Hey, Ted... have you passed on your "insider knowledge" to Elections Canada yet?

**********

UPDATE: The plot thickens...

A fake video confession was posted on YouTube in which someone falsely claiming to be former Conservative staffer Michael Sona took the fall for the infractions to the Elections Act.

Sources who know Mr. Sona told The Globe it was not him on the video and the person making the false confession is obviously not the same Mr. Sona whose pictures adorn the Internet in the company of a number of senior Conservative ministers.

You and I may never know the identity Pierre Poutine. It will depend on his/her political affiliation. If this person hss, in any way, tied to the Conservatives then you can bet Elections Canada will release all the details. If it turns out this was done by a member of the NDP or the Liberals, or even simply an unaffiliated troublemaker, then Elections Canada will not make the information public for privact considerations.

The Poutine thing is not about robo-calling per se but about election fraud, at least for sure in Guelph, and now possibly in a few other ridings (like in Toronto where Conservatives signed up thousands of non-registered voters at the last minute without addresses in the riding).

And there hasn't been any evidence of Liberal electoral fraud as there is with Conservatives, just as there hasn't been any evidence of electoral fraud being organized by the Conservatives' national campaign.

Proof that there was, in fact, electoral fraud by Conservatives in Guelph? Is this even a question?

Misdirecting someone to the wrong polling station is electoral fraud. That's not even opinion.

In a legal sense, not it has obviously not been proven against anyone yet since they haven't gone to court yet.

But even Conservatives at the centre of this thing are admitting there was fraudulent activity. No one is denying that Liberal supporters did, in fact, receive telephone calls through Rack Nine and Campaign Research (i.e. using them, but they didn't draft the script) deliberately mis-directing them to wrong polling stations. The Conservative Party even fired someone for it and he said he was not the one who conducted the "fraudulent" activity - his words, not mine.

So yes, electoral fraud occurred. Obviously. Who did it? Seems pretty obviously a few Conservatives.

Was every robo-call an electoral fraud? Absolutley not even close. The actual electoral fraud seems pretty isolated to a few or several key/close ridings. I'm not even talking about every call that mis-directed voters to the wrong polling stations - those could conceivably be mistakes - but not the ones where there was a very high number of these misdirection calls.

Did these fraudsters conspire with the national campaign or the national party? I very very much doubt it.

Are you asking for proof that there was electoral fraud, Neo? Surely, not even one such as you are claiming that no electoral fraud actually occurred.

Or are you asking for proof that the obvious electoral fraud was perpetrated by Conservatives?

No one has been convicted yet so technically there is no legal proof yet of WHO actually did it. True.

But:

- The RCMP and Elections Canada are only investigating Conservatives and Conservative robo-callers.

- Conservative offices are the subject of now multiple subpoenas.

- A Conservative staffer has already been fired by the Conservatives for his involvement in this.

- That same Conservative has said he was not the one who conducted the "fraudulent" activity, though he knows who, and the "guilty" party should come forward.

- Rack Nine, which only does work for Conservatives according to their own statements, says they didn't do anything wrong and they know who Pierre Poutine is.

- Prescott, the Conservative at the centre of the storm in Guelph, is the one Elections Canada wants to interview/interrogation who has "lawyered up" and cancelled an interview/interrogation with Elections Canada.

So I think it is pretty obvious, logical and reasonable to see Conservatives behind the electoral fraud.

Who exactly? Don't know.

How far up the chain of command? Don't know.

Will there be yet another criminal conviction against the Conservative Party or Conservative Party members? I can guarantee it.

EC says what we all knew. (http://t.co/If2qQwjT) 31,000 complaints were all part of false flag operation by libdipper drogue army clicking submit on the leadnow.ca website. Who would have thought? By the end of the day it will be clear this WHOLE DAMN THING WAS A libdipper plot. It's all coming out drip... drip... drip... Nice try.

how many complaints were there about robo-calling at the time of the election... apparently not many.

most have been the result of a two week opposition media blitz asking people to visit websites and finger stephen harper.

"Elections Canada says the bulk of the 31,000 messages it’s received from Canadians concerning fraudulent robo-calls in the 2011 ballot were merely form letters."

"'The majority of those contacts were made via automated forms or online form letters,' agency spokesman John Enright said Monday."

Form letters such as those generated by activist website Leadnow.ca – which encourages Canadians to submit them – do not spell out an allegation about specific robo-calls but merely raise concern about the subject.

I would love to meet this Straw Man friend of yours some day. I'm really quite jealous of him (or her). I spend the time to type up comments, always in a civilized and respectful way to our dear blog host, and yet you always seem to prefer to argue with Straw Man and ignore what I write. In fact, you seem so enamoured with Straw Man that you attribute his (or her) comments to me.

I have no doubt that the 31,000 calls now coming in are mostly - but not entirely - dubious. That matters not a bit.

The electoral fraud actually occurred, it was reported at the time of the election, it was reported at the time of the election by Rack Nine's own employees, there is an audio recording of the voting station misdirection, the Conservatives fired one of their own, who then said it was not him who did the "fraud", subpoenas have actually been issued, the RCMP got involved... all before this stupid effort by the NDP and the Liberals to focus on robo-calling instead of the actual electoral fraud.

As with most things that occur in real life in Canada: (1) the Liberals and NDP are playing catch-up instead of lead roles, and (2) the Conservatives prefer fantasy.

- a sworn affidavit from a Rack Nine caller saying her script specified that she tell voters to go to a false location is not evidence in your world? In my world, that is evidence that carries weight in court. Especially since she made her complaints to her boss, Elections Canada and the RCMP on election day.

- an audio recording of someone trying to misdirect voters to a false location is not evidence in your world? In my world, audio evidence is evidence that carries a tremendous amount of weight in court.

- phone records and billing records are not evidence in your world? In my world, it's called physical evidence and it is highly regarded.

- a Conservative staffer fired for his activities relating to the electoral fraud is not evidence in your world? It's circumstantial, but it is still evidence.

- a Conservative staffer admitting there was "fraudulent activity" is not evidence in your world? Oral testimony made against one's own interest is one of the best kinds of oral evidence you can get.

- the Rack Nine owner providing back-up account records showing payments from the infamous "Pierre Poutine", and saying he knows who he is, and helping them get to the telephone and credit card evidence? That is supportive evidence which is essential in building the case.

And on and on and on.

Nine months of digging into this crime and Elections Canada is still just at the tip.

Despite all of the distractions and silliness of the opposition parties, at the bottom of this there is a real crime with real criminals who will be charged based on real evidence.

Neo, if an audio recording, a confession of "fraud", a wire trace confirmed by the RCMP, a technical report tracing directly back to the perpetrator's residence, etc. aren't "hard evidence", then I'm surprised you are even allowed to call yourself a conservative.

Clearly, nothing - likely not even yet another conviction against the Conservatives - would convince you of any possible teeny bit of wrongdoing by the saintly Conservative Party and its minions, er, marionettes, er sorry, I mean members.

I had at one point thought I detected a shimmer of logic in your faculties, but it must just have been a reflection from the mirrors through the smoke.

Cheerio.

I'm going to make some popcorn. This electoral fraud show is entertaining.

*lots of... what do lawyers call it... oh yeah, hearsay... but again, so far, ted... it's all you puffing out your chest and quoting the msm.

if this is all cut & dried electoral fraud, ted... and you have proof... where's the arrests?

i'm thinkin' you might wanna hold off crowing until you have actual proof implicating the conservative party. that's what you're saying, right ted... that it's the party and not just some rogue volunteer in a single riding?

or, hey... if you have some actual facts implicating stephen harper... put them on the table.